Alius Latus
by Artemis and Minerva
Summary: Harry, Luna, Ron, and Hermione just wanted to get to school on time-but instead they find themselves thrown into Middle Earth where they run into dirty ranger’s, mysterious elves and find themselves lost with a hobbit named Sam HPLOTR crossover
1. Tere Palurin

Artemis: So I saw Return of the King the other day.  
  
Minerva: Me too! Wasn't the Harry Potter trailer the greatest!  
  
Artemis: Ugh, your hopeless. If you hadn't been so busy thinking about the HP trailer maybe your would have noticed Gandalf kicking some serious butt. Ya don't see Dumbledore doing that!  
  
Minerva: Go to hell. You haven't thoroughly read the end of the 5th book..in chapter 35 page 805 Dumbledore clearly shows his potential is way beyond Gandalf's.  
  
Artemis: Please tell me you looked that up...  
  
Minerva: What can I say? Its my gift..  
  
Artemis: Please just tell me you looked that up...anyway, please, enjoy the story!  
  
Minerva: Yes do that...and if you don't review I will curse you with my magical baguette.  
  
Alius Latus  
  
Chapter 1: Tere Palurin  
  
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Luna Lovegood were hurrying to catch the Hogwarts  
  
Express. They had just spent Christmas vacation at Hermione's house, as a way to try  
  
and get Harry's spirits up. Ever since the death of his godfather, Harry had become very  
  
quiet, serious, and depressed. He would rarely speak unless spoken to, and even then his  
  
answers were short and distant, as though he wasn't really listening at all in the first  
  
place. So as a way to keep Harry away from Hogwarts and any memories of Sirius that  
  
may be in the castle, Hermione had invited Harry, Ron, and the most recent member of  
  
the group (on Harry's insistence) Luna, to her house for the break. The holidays had  
  
been well planned and kept them all busy, that is until the morning that they were to go  
  
back to Hogwarts, when it was discovered that Harry and Ron were yet to pack. Only  
  
two hours before the Hogwarts Express was the leave the station. Chaos ensued. An  
  
hour and forty five minutes were spent running around, looking for various missing  
  
objects, listening to Hermione lecture about packing the night before you leave and being  
  
always being prepared, and Luna claiming she lost her silver moonflower, what ever that  
  
was! As general rule with Luna no questions were asked. With great haste Hermione  
  
summoned the Knight Bus, fifteen minutes before the train was to leave. Because they  
  
were in such a hurry (and some influence from Harry) the group was made first on the list  
  
to be dropped off and arrived at Kings Cross with five minutes to get on the train. The  
  
amount of people in the train station was amazing! It seemed to be a never relenting line  
  
of muggles between where Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Luna were and where Platform 9  
  
¾ was. There was no way to get through! With extreme frustration the group was only  
  
approaching Platform 3 when Ron called back to his friends, "There's this spell that my  
  
father taught me in case there was ever another situation like in our second year Harry.  
  
It'll get us there in no time!"  
  
"Ronald Weasley! There are tons of muggles in this station, you cant just go around  
  
casting spells! You could blow the cover of the wizard world!" Hermione yelled back.  
  
It was Harry who came to the rescue.  
  
"I'll cast a notice-me-not spell on Ron. No one but us will be able to tell what he is  
  
doing."  
  
Hermione, though clearly annoyed, nodded in agreement. Ron grinned as Harry quickly  
  
cast the spell on to him. Ron walked up to the wall, with his wand pointing toward it and  
  
said calmly, "Tere Palurin." Then without a moment of hesitation he walked through the  
  
wall. Glancing at his two other friends Harry quickly cast notice-me-not spells on all of  
  
them. He allowed (as any gentleman would) for the two girls to go through the wall first.  
  
Then it was his turn. He hated going through walls but as he looked up at the clock he  
  
realized he only had one minute before the train left. 1.2.3..and through the  
  
wall he went. But wherever he was it most certainly not Platform 9 ¾! Everything was  
  
black and the air was freezing cold, much colder than it had been at Kings Cross.  
  
In the dark Harry called out, "Ron, Hermione, Luna?"  
  
"Right here Harry!" Came a voice behind him. Harry spun around but saw nothing.  
  
"I can't see a thing, wait a second and let me pull out my wand. Lumos." A bright  
  
light came out of the wand letting him see his three friends lying on the ground with their  
  
trunks surrounding them, they obviously hadn't been able to find their wands or stay  
  
standing. Harry held out his hand to help Luna, who was closest to him up.  
  
"Where do you think we are?" He asked, though he knew his friends most likely  
  
would not know the answer to that question. Luna and Ron gave him a mutual response  
  
of "I have no clue!" But Hermione took this chance to look around at the surroundings.  
  
"Well judging by the type of grass here, Praelongus Obherbescere, we are  
  
somewhere in Scotland or Ireland. Praelongus Obherbescere only grows in those two  
  
areas. You see if the environment.."  
  
"We get it Hermione, we're somewhere in Scotland or Ireland. Now the question  
  
is how we get from where we are now to Hogwarts before the start of term feast?" Ron  
  
interrupted. Hermione glared at him. Harry rolled his eyes.  
  
"Guys we don't have time for this. We need to come up with a plan of action.  
  
And this time there are no Threstals around to ride on." No body laughed at this sad  
  
attempt to lighten the situation. Hermione's face light up. Ron groaned.  
  
"Oh no, Hermione has a plan." Hermione scoffed but began anyway.  
  
"You two have your brooms right?"  
  
This time Ron rolled his eyes. "No Hermione, we just spent a couple of hours a day  
  
practicing Quidditch in your backyard without our brooms." She was about to retort  
  
before Luna, who had said nothing, said something.  
  
"Look up there! There's a fire on that big rock thing."  
  
The other's squinted up to where she was pointing. A very small, but noticeable fire was  
  
burning atop a large rock structure.  
  
"People!" Hermione called out. "I bet they can tell us where we are, and from  
  
there we can find our way to Hogwarts!"  
  
"Yeah but how do we get up there?" Harry asked stupidly. Hermione slapped  
  
him upside the head.  
  
"We fly of course! You, Ron, and Luna all have brooms and I can ride with one  
  
of you."  
  
"What about our trunks?"  
  
"I'll shrink them, that way we can just carry them in our pockets. Come on now,  
  
I'm sure that it will take a couple of hours to get to school and you two can't afford to be  
  
late for getting to school again like in second year, you'll be expelled for sure!" They  
  
nodded and pulled their broomsticks out from their trunks. "Parvus!" Hermione said  
  
four times giving each person his or her respective trunk. "Let's go!"  
  
Harry and Ron mounted their brooms and waited for Hermione and Luna to do  
  
the same. "Ready?" Harry asked, hovering slightly from the ground. Hermione nodded.  
  
"Last one there has to give Snape a sponge bath!" Ron called out. Thoroughly  
  
disgusted by the idea it self, Harry took off at full speed, easily out stripped the others.  
  
He landed a couple feet away from where he could now see four figures, just in case they  
  
weren't friendly. The other three landed beside him, Harry motioned for them to be  
  
quiet. The four figures looked human but were rather short, and had huge feet. One of  
  
them was sleeping while the other three were cooking something over the fire. Suddenly  
  
the one who was sleeping woke up.  
  
"What are you doing?" He called out, approaching the people by the fire.  
  
"Tomatoes, sausages, nice crispy bacon." One of the other's said.  
  
"We saved some for you, Mr. Frodo." The fattest one said. 'Mr. Frodo' did not  
  
appear very happy about it and ran over and stomping on the fire.  
  
"Put it out you fools! Put it out!" He cried. The one furthest from him exclaimed,  
  
"That wasn't very nice, you got ash on my tomatoes!" Mr. Frodo continued to  
  
stop the fire out until it was only embers. The four Hogwarts students heard screeches  
  
from below. The short people by the fire also looked down to see what was coming.  
  
Harry gasped. "Dementors!" They all pulled out their wands.  
  
"Do you guys remember how to do the patornous? Think a happy thought and  
  
concentrate. Expecto Patronum, Expecto Patronum!"  
  
All together they raised their wands and yelled out the loudest they could, "EXPECTO  
  
PATRONUM, EXPECTO PATRONUM, EXPECTO PATRONUM!!!" Bright silvery  
  
figures shot out of each of their wands. From Harry's a stag, from Hermione's a lion,  
  
Ron's let out a dragon, and Luna's was the most surprising of all, a Threstal. Each  
  
animal bounded down the cliff and at the Dementors. They screeched from where they  
  
were and rode off into the distance. All together they breathed a sigh of relief. They  
  
were gone, but the patronous' had taken a lot out of them. Without any warning, a blade  
  
was pressed lightly against Harry's throat. A dark, dirty fully grown man growled at  
  
them,  
  
"Who are you and what is your business here?" 


	2. Osp Ni i Taur

Minerva: You know the nature of this chapter bugs me...smoking is bad for you!  
  
Artemis: Yeah, Arwen's trying to get Aragorn to kick the habit.  
  
Minerva: Speaking of Arwen you will notice in this chapter that we are following the movie version of LOTR.  
  
Artemis: ::nods:: Bear with us LOTR junkies, there are those who...haven't read the books!  
  
Minerva: Harry Potter fanatics also need to keep in mind that one of us can barely remember what she has read of the books as she has only read them ONE time each! ::gasps in horror!::  
  
Artemis: Believe it or not I haven't read Quidditch Through the Ages either. Anyway, thanks for the positive comments and please review more!  
  
Minerva: The threat of the magical baguette is still in place for non- reviewers. (You too Art if you don't get readin') Also there is a reason that this chapter may seem a little..different...to you and that would be because it was written by a crazier...I mean different person.  
  
Artemis: ::cough::gandalfkicksdumbledoresarse::cough:: Enjoy  
  
Alius Latus  
  
Chapter 2: Osp ni itaur  
  
An exodus of smoke rose from Aragorn's mouth as he exhaled deeply. Leaning  
  
against the rough bark of an enormous fir, he sighed and took another puff of his pipe.  
  
Though he appeared lost in his own thoughts, he was keenly straining his human senses  
  
for any rupture of the cool serenity around him. He sighed again, and closed his eyes  
  
wearily. Suddenly, they snapped open. A smell, for the slighted moment, had made a  
  
fleeting assault on his nostrils. He pulled out his pipe and exhaled. That was it again,  
  
dancing through the air, teasing his senses. He thought for a moment where he might  
  
have encountered it before. He sniffed once more, and there it was, for a mere instant. It  
  
was rich and woody, like smoke. Too harsh to be the burning of pipe weed, it had the  
  
distinct scent of a campfire. The pipe fell along the needles of the forest floor, forgotten.  
  
Through the trees he ran, momentarily smelling it again. As the forest thinned, the scent  
  
thickened, unhindered by the thick greenery. He ran faster. Soon he had escaped the  
  
wood altogether, and still running like no normal human could, Aragorn came stumbling  
  
to the top of a ridge. As soon as he crested it, the darkness consumed him. He had been  
  
practically unaware of the starless night in the forest, relying completely upon Elvish  
  
taught skills to safely navigate the trees. He needed no light however, for there in the  
  
distant darkness atop the peak of Weathertop there was a gleam. Muttering Elvish curses,  
  
Aragorn reached for the torch he kept in his pack. If he could adequately discern the  
  
scent, they would be on the trail soon too.  
  
He fumbled to strike flint with steel and was soon rewarded with a spark which  
  
matured to a controlled blaze on his torch. Holding this tightly in one hand he drew his  
  
sword, and taking care for naught but haste raced up towards the blinking light in the  
  
distant abyss of dark. By what Elvish magic or workmanship the light stayed lit, Aragorn  
  
did not know, but he was grateful to see that its flame never wavered as he plunged  
  
through the darkness. About half way there he heard the screams of wraiths up ahead.  
  
With no breath for curses he simply ran faster.  
  
When he had climbed to the top of the mountain he saw them, the Nazgul. He  
  
counted at least two and estimated multiple others to be hidden in the folds of shadow  
  
and night. He ran at the nearest one, brandishing the flame, when suddenly several human  
  
voices rang clear through the night and from the unseen depths of the shadows issued  
  
forth four silvery creatures. 'What new devilry of Sauron's is this?' Aragorn wondered as  
  
he dodged back to avoid the unexpected threat. To his surprise however, the black riders  
  
also fled the creatures. Down the mountain they ran, the piercing screams fading as they  
  
went. Aragorn, unmoved, turned to face this new enemy. He stealthily slipped into the  
  
shadows, and in the night's confusion snuck behind the origin of the silvery wisps. To his  
  
chagrin, he saw four indistinct figures, but with an adamant will not to fail Frodo again,  
  
he charged at them. Unseen until his blade met the neck of the one he deemed to be their  
  
leader, he stopped short of a kill, for as the light from his torch claimed the darkness  
  
around them, Aragorn saw his opponent to be no more than a child. "Who are you, and  
  
what is your business here?" he demanded gruffly, carefully applying his blade lightly  
  
enough so that it broke no skin but keeping the boy aware of its presence beside his neck.  
  
The child stiffened, and his comrades turned to face Aragorn, who pulled his captive into  
  
his grasp. "Harry!" one of them cried. Aragorn drew closer the blade and a trickle of  
  
blood fell. "Answer!" He ordered. "We are children, from England. We mean you no  
  
harm, we don't even know how we came to be here, just please, don't hurt our friend!  
  
Please let him go." pleaded one of them desperately.  
  
Judging them to be less of a threat than he had first suspected, Aragorn eased on his  
  
grip upon the captive. "From whence came the silver beasts which caused the black riders  
  
to flee?" he asked a bit softer. They looked at each other, and when he got no answer  
  
Aragorn sheathed his sword. He pulled from the hand of the boy a small wooden stick,  
  
and looked at it strangely. It had surely been made for some purpose, but could not be  
  
expected to serve as a club by any means. "Give that back!" cried the boy, but Aragorn  
  
held it out of reach. "Strider!" called a new voice. He turned to see the four Hobbits.  
  
They looked scared as rabbits, all huddled together, but they seemed relatively no worse  
  
for wear. He met Frodo's eyes, and the Hobbit shook his head. Relief washed over  
  
Aragorn. Luck had been with them. "Who's this then Strider?" asked Pippin. Aragorn  
  
shook his head and looked to the boy and his friends, all of whom seemed shocked at the  
  
sight of the hobbits. Aragorn spoke again, "Give up your weapons, and you shall come to  
  
no harm." He declared, and with no other choice they did. Each of them had only small  
  
smooth sticks like the first. Aragorn, seeing no other place for concealed weapons on  
  
their persons placed the sticks in his belt. Suddenly a Nazgul's cry pierced the air.  
  
Now fully comprehending that the silvery creatures were merely a temporary  
  
deterrent, the ranger realized they would have to make a break for Rivendell. "There will  
  
be a time for explanations later." He said to the strangers. "For now, follow me if you  
  
wish to live. Do not lose your way, as I go back for no one. Hobbits, make haste."  
  
Aragorn moved swiftly to the edge of the incline, and in a moment he was joined by the  
  
new quartet. "Where are we going?" asked a girl. "We shall all answer questions at a  
  
safer time." He answered, but before she could display her dissatisfaction, the Hobbits  
  
appeared and Aragorn took off at an incredible pace down the mountain.  
  
They all ran after, and although they never caught up to him, he never slowed. Every  
  
few moments the scream of the black riders would sound again, and Aragorn would stop,  
  
and turn to be sure they (specifically Frodo) were keeping up. As day broke they reached  
  
a forest, and without stopping Aragorn plunged into it. He paused to hear the strains of  
  
the Nazgul once more and judged them to be no more than five hundred paces from the  
  
wood. He kept running, hearing Frodo's sure stride behind him. After some time he  
  
paused, allowing Frodo, then the others to catch up. He was certain he had detected the  
  
sound of another, less ominous gallop.  
  
Suddenly, into their path dashed an enormous mare, and astride her, the most  
  
beautiful creature any of them had ever seen. "Arwen." Aragorn spoke her name with a  
  
mixture of relief and distress. "Frodo," she said, never dismounting. "Come, let us hurry!  
  
All nine of the riders are after you and we must make haste to escape them." Frodo  
  
nodded numbly, but Aragorn reached for her reins. "Aragorn, you know I am the faster  
  
rider." She said. He frowned at her, but softly lifted Frodo onto her horse. "May the lady  
  
deliver you both into the safety of Imladris." He prayed aloud. Nodding, she turned the  
  
beast, and with no word of goodbye rode off. Aragorn turned to the Hobbits and gave  
  
them a hopeful look. "Arwen is right, we need not worry. She will deliver Frodo safely to  
  
Rivendell, and as long as he is not among us we need not fear the Ringwraiths." The  
  
Hobbits nodded unconvincingly, and tried to smile back.  
  
Meanwhile, Aragorn surveyed his company. Furrowing his brow, he spoke, "Were  
  
there not four of you who first ran with us?" he asked the two strangers, both girls. "They  
  
looked to each other in puzzlement, then gazed around them. "Harry and Ron!" one of  
  
them cried, "They must have fallen behind and gotten lost!"  
  
"Sam's not here either." reported Merry.  
  
Aragorn sighed, "Then we must pray that they find their way to each other and then to  
  
shelter for the night." He said resignedly. "What??" one of the girls said, "You can't  
  
possible say that you mean to just keep going and leave our friends behind!" cried the  
  
other. Aragorn placed his head in his hand and began to massage his temples with his  
  
thumb and forefinger, "I warned you all that you must keep pace with me at all costs. We  
  
must hurry if we are to make it to Rivendell by nightfall. I know naught of this wood,  
  
save the main way through it, but perhaps in the city you can find one who might be able  
  
and willing to help you find your comrades. Until then, they need not worry after the  
  
wraiths. The monsters care not for them." "Surely there are other dangers in this wood  
  
besides those dement.er wraiths." She retorted. Aragorn's lethargy was growing and he  
  
had been thrown off by the unexpected incidences of the night. Fortunately for the  
  
newcomers he was a patient man, a compassionate man, and he felt more pity for them  
  
than frustration. He slowly rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, "I have not the  
  
strength to argue with you my lady. You must accept my apologies. I will say no more."  
  
and without another word he spun and marched off through the trees. 


	3. Ando Mesta

::Minerva gets out a shotgun and points it at Sam::  
  
Artemis: Um, Minerva...what are you doing with that shotgun?  
  
Minerva: ::puts gun away quickly:: Nothing!  
  
Artemis: Minerva, you know what I said about killing off hobbits.  
  
Minerva: ::whines: But I really wanna! Please?  
  
Artemis: ::shakes head:: Just to clue in you readers, Minerva had a wee bit of trouble with Mr. Gamgee in this chapter.  
  
Minerva: .....more than a wee bit...that's what took me so long to get this chapter done! Can I PLEASE kill him? It would make things go a lot quicker....  
  
Artemis: Ya know Minerva, it was easy to do the HP characters: Hermione: Know it all Luna: Doesn't talk-makes no sense when does Harry: Frodo before puberty Ron: British  
  
Minerva: At least they don't depend on someone else for their personalities, and Dumbledore could kick Gandalf's ass.  
  
Artemis: Despite that little bit of mistruth I'm sure you will all enjoy the preformance of Samwise, and feel free to compliment Minerva on her portrayal-she needs the reinforcement. Enjoy!  
  
Alius Latus  
  
Chapter Three: Ando Mesta  
  
Harry thought that Wood's Quidditch practices were the toughest physical endurance that  
  
he would ever have to encounter. But what they were doing now made those practices  
  
seem like a light rain compared to a hurricane. He had never run this much in his entire  
  
life, and knew that none of his friends had either. And this Strider bloke wouldn't give it  
  
a rest! Harry didn't know that it was humanly possible to run this much this fast. And he  
  
probably wouldn't have been able to do this if it weren't for the fact that Strider had his  
  
wand. The surprising thing was that Hermione and Luna were doing much better than  
  
Harry and Ron with keeping up. If it were up to Harry and Ron they would be riding  
  
their brooms instead of running, but Hermione had insisted that it was much too  
  
dangerous to let any of the strange company that they were keeping know that they had  
  
brooms. The fact that Strider and what he had called 'hobbits' couldn't see the brooms in  
  
the first place meant that they were clearly muggles and the Ministry of Magic would be  
  
furious if they knew that the now golden quartet had spilled the entire wizarding world's  
  
secret. They were angry at Harry enough not to have this added on. So they ran. And  
  
ran. And then ran some more. However, it didn't seem that Harry and Ron were the only  
  
people having trouble catching up with Strider. The fat hobbit from the rock was  
  
breathing heavily only a few feet in front of Harry and Ron, who were keeping back  
  
anyway discussing possible ways to ride their brooms without being caught by Hermione  
  
or anyone else that they were traveling with.  
  
"Maybe if we mount them really close to the ground and wave out our legs as if  
  
we are running no one will notice. In plus they are all so far ahead of us they wont even  
  
know!" Ron whispered. Harry shook his head.  
  
"Ron I don't think that we should be worried about getting on our brooms..we  
  
should be focusing on how to get our wands back! What if Voldemort attacks?"  
  
Ron shuddered. "Don't say that name!" He hissed. Harry rolled his eyes.  
  
"Anyway," Ron continued. "If we don't figure out how to ride out brooms, we'll never  
  
catch up with them anyway! Then we won't be able to get..."  
  
"Shhh!" Harry interrupted. It seemed that Ron's voice had risen a little too loud and the  
  
fat hobbit in front of them was looked at the two suspiciously. Ron lowered his voice  
  
again.  
  
",our wands!"  
  
The two best friends continued to argue in hushed voices until suddenly Ron ran into  
  
someone quite short standing right in front of them. It was the fat Hobbit and he looked  
  
furious.  
  
"Just what are you two plotting? Out with it!" He demanded accusingly.  
  
"Us?" Harry asked in the most innocent voice he could muster. " We're not  
  
plotting anything! So why don't you get out of our way!" The fat hobbit just glared at  
  
Harry but didn't move. So the-boy-who-lived went to help Ron up from the fall and  
  
ignored him. But as soon as the two of them tried to start running again the hobbit  
  
stepped in front of them.  
  
"I'm not letting you get anywhere near Mr. Frodo! I'll kill you if you try  
  
anything!" Ron and Harry looked at each other, confused.  
  
"Why would we want to go near your Mr. Frodo? Now if you don't move, we  
  
won't be anywhere near him anyway because we are unable to catch up! So step aside."  
  
And secretly Harry added to himself, 'I'm the bloody boy-who-lived, I doubt that some  
  
small man could kill me or Ron!'  
  
"I won't! And don't act like you don't know what Mr. Frodo is carrying. I heard  
  
the two of you talking. You want it!"  
  
"Want what?" Ron spurted out. The hobbit just glared at them, still refusing.  
  
Shrugging their shoulders, the two best friends decided to just go around the hobbit. It  
  
wasn't like he was any match for them. But as soon as they did they noticed that none of  
  
the company that they were traveling with were in sight at all. Ron gasped.  
  
"Harry where are they?"  
  
"No clue, but I think now would be a good time to use our brooms." Ron nodded  
  
in agreement. They both placed their brooms on the ground and quietly said, "Up!"  
  
As they mounted Harry turned to the hobbit who was standing there looking very  
  
confused.  
  
"Ron what are we going to do about him? We can't just leave him here!"  
  
"Take him on your broom with you! Come on we don't have time to discuss this.  
  
We need to find the girls!"  
  
So Harry (who had had weight training with Quidditch.) lifted the hobbit off the ground  
  
and onto his broom before the small man could protest. They flew fast and low, Harry in  
  
the lead because of his Firebolt. The hobbit was terrified. Finally they came to a forest  
  
that looked rather menacing.  
  
"Harry I'm sure they didn't go in there...it looks like the Forbidden Forest!" Harry nodded and said,  
  
"Yeah, let's go to the left..I think I see some footprints headed in that direction." So Ron, Harry, and the hobbit took off to the left.  
  
After an hour of flying high speed Harry slowed in a clearing and stopped. Ron  
  
landed a couple feet away from him.  
  
"We're lost aren't we?" He asked, even though he already knew.  
  
"Ron, we've been lost since we ran through that short cut of yours. The problem  
  
now is that we are separated from the girls as well as our wands! And we don't even  
  
know where that Strider is taking them!"  
  
It seemed for the first time since they had realized that they were lost the hobbit found his voice.  
  
"They are going to Rivendell, to see the elves."  
  
Ron jumped on him immediately, like he was a criminal.  
  
"Rivendell is it? And just where is this Rivendell, and what has this Strider done  
  
to our friends?" He was about to continue the questioning but Harry pulled him away  
  
from the hobbit, who was looking rather terrified of Ron at the moment.  
  
"Sorry about him, we're just worried about our friends. All we want is to find them and get to school."  
  
The hobbit seemed to have nothing to say to that. Harry decided to try again.  
  
"Hey what's your name?" The small man looked at him begrudgingly.  
  
"Samwise Gamgee." Harry held out his hand.  
  
"Its nice to meet you Samwise, I'm Harry Potter, and this is my best friend Ron  
  
Weasley." Samwise took Harry's hand as Ron nodded towards the two. There was an  
  
awkward silence.  
  
"It's getting dark. We'd be best to get a fire started." Sam finally said. Harry and Ron nodded in agreement.  
  
"We'll go try to find some firewood." Harry offered. Ron was about to protest  
  
but Harry gave him a look and pulled him towards the woods. Samwise looked  
  
suspicious again but didn't say anything. All he did was turn around and started digging  
  
in his pack. Harry gestured for Ron to follow him.  
  
"Harry, remember the world cup last year? We don't know how to start a muggle fire. And we don't have our wands!"  
  
"Calm down! I'm sure that Samwise knows how to. If not, one time I saw this  
  
muggle movie that Dudley was watching and they were rubbing sticks together to get a  
  
spark..we could try that."  
  
Ron clearly thought that Harry was crazy, and just turned away from him and started  
  
picking up sticks in the woods, and Harry followed his lead. There was barely any light  
  
left in the day when the two friends thought they had enough sticks to start a fire, so they  
  
headed back to the clearing where Samwise had some packages spread out on the ground.  
  
He looked at them and glared. Harry was beginning to think that this Hobbit had only  
  
two looks, angry and angrier.  
  
"That took you a fair amount of time! What caused you to take so long in the woods?"  
  
Harry shrugged and Ron glared defiantly at the Hobbit as they laid the sticks on the ground.  
  
"We were just getting twigs off the ground that you could start a mug..a  
  
fire.." Harry had jabbed Ron in the ribs as he was about to say muggle, not wanting  
  
anymore questions from Samwise. They could tell that the hobbit still didn't trust them,  
  
but there was nothing that Harry and Ron could do to change that. In plus, Ron seemed  
  
very suspicious of the small man. Samwise obviously decided to ignore his distain for  
  
the two boys and started working on getting the fire started, much to their relief. It took a  
  
while with much awkward silence to get the fire started. The hobbit looked about ready  
  
to reach for one of his packages before turning to Harry and Ron.  
  
"Would you like some food?" He asked. Those were the magic words for Ron as  
  
he grinned and nodded enthusiastically. 'Of course,' Harry thought, 'Ron's always  
  
thinking about his stomach.' The raven-haired boy, who had spent a great deal of time  
  
starved at the Dursleys, wasn't even thinking about food. Actually all he could think  
  
about was the girls. Would they be alright? He had no clue how they would find Luna  
  
and Hermione, he just knew that he had to find them as soon as possible. He didn't trust  
  
Aragorn with his female best friends and was hoping that this hobbit turned out to be a  
  
worthy guide to find the girls. Harry was so lost in his thoughts he didn't even realize  
  
that Samwise was finished cooking the food he had gotten out of the packages and he and  
  
Ron were happily sitting and eating it. When he saw that Harry wasn't eating, Ron  
  
turned to him.  
  
"Would you like some?" Harry shook his head. He was anything but hungry  
  
right now, and had no clue how Ron could eat at a time like this. Ron's grin faded when  
  
he saw that Harry wasn't going to eat anything at all. "You have to eat Harry! You  
  
haven't had any food since last night at Hermione's house!"  
  
"I'm not hungry." He replied.  
  
"I don't care if you are hungry or not, you need food! You can't go a whole day  
  
without food mate! Now eat!" Ron said shoving a bowl into Harry's hands. Reluctantly,  
  
Harry took the bowl and began to eat slowly, which seem to satisfy Ron enough for him  
  
to turn back to his own food. After this argument between the two of them, Samwise  
  
seemed to lose some of his edge. They finished their food in silence. When they were  
  
done the hobbit started to look around, and pulled some blankets out of his backpack.  
  
"We should get some sleep; we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Harry and Ron agreed.  
  
"I think we need to keep watch. I mean we're in a mysterious forest and have no  
  
clue what could be out there." Harry said, looking around at the dark woods that  
  
surrounded them. Samwise seemed a little reluctant until Harry added, "I'll keep first  
  
watch. You two go on to sleep. I'll wake one of you when I get too tired to stay awake."  
  
He didn't have to say it twice before Ron and Samwise seemed to be fast asleep.  
  
Actually, Harry wasn't sure that Samwise was actually sleeping, his snoring seemed  
  
rather fake, but young wizard thought that maybe that's how hobbits slept. The fire was  
  
just beginning to fade, making Harry wish that he still had his wand with him. As the  
  
embers in the fire seemed to dull, so did Harry's consciousness. Several times he felt  
  
himself falling asleep and had to shake his head wake up. He hadn't been on watch long  
  
enough to wake either of the other two. He tried everything to keep awake, but things  
  
like counting the stars, or trying to add up how many points Snape had taken from  
  
Gryffindor in the last five years just made him even more tired. Suddenly Harry spotted  
  
his broom. That's what he would do! He would fly up above the trees and make sure  
  
that nothing dangerous was coming! And if he just happened to try a few other stunts  
  
on the way up it wouldn't matter! So up he went, the night air running through his hair,  
  
the thrill of flying waking him up immediately. Harry kept flying higher and higher  
  
until the fire that they had lit was only a dot in a sea of trees. The raven-haired seeker  
  
got so caught up in the joy of flying that he didn't even notice that there was a dark  
  
figure heading in from behind. Doing a sharp turn around, just for the pleasure of it,  
  
Harry finally noticed the figure, which was now quite close. It was a giant eagle that  
  
looked like it had a bump on its back. Not taking the chance that it was an enemy he  
  
dived down to where Ron and Samwise were sleeping, hoping that the eagle was just an  
  
innocent by stander and wouldn't follow him down to the others. It did. So Harry came  
  
out of his dive quickly, landing at the edge of the clearing, yelling,  
  
"RON, SAMWISE! WAKE UP!! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" Samwise  
  
jumped to his feet immediately, confirming Harry's belief that he wasn't actually asleep  
  
before. The eagle was about ready to swoop down on the still half-asleep Ron before  
  
Harry flew over to his friend and pushed him down. The giant bird was now standing  
  
straight over them and Harry could tell that the 'bump' on the bird was indeed an old  
  
man, who was holding a staff, and looking as though he would kill the two friends. As a  
  
last resort Harry was about to jump up and tackle the man, but before he could Samwise  
  
called from the other direction.  
  
"Gandalf?" 


	4. Estent Sindarian

Minerva: As you can tell this chapter is FREAKISHLY short, to no credit of my own. Artemis: I've heard that it was the fault of the elves. Minerva: And I've heard that it was the fault of you! Artemis: What can I say, journeys are boring, and I really want to get to Rivendell! Minerva: So you leave it for me to write. Typical! Artemis: What this stories needs is elves! Minerva: Fine, whatever, lets just get on with it. I hope you like this chapter despite obvious shortness! (And not having it to be written by me, the all mighty Minerva!) Artemis: My sincerest apologies on both accounts...  
  
Alius Latus  
  
Chapter Four: Estent Sindarian  
  
The old wizard gave Sam a reassuring smile, and with grace uncharacteristic of one who  
  
had seen so many winters, he stepped to the ground, now removing a great wooden staff  
  
from the eagle's broad shoulders. He ignored them for a moment, exchanging words with  
  
the eagle, which he called Gwaihir. Then with a final thanks from Gandalf and the  
  
blessing of the Valar to carry his wings, the bird was aloft and carefully maneuvered out  
  
of sight. "Oh Gandalf sir, I'm just so relieved to see a familiar face!" Sam gushed  
  
admiringly. Just what the other two thought of Gandalf was impossible to say, but Sam  
  
noted with satisfaction that they were clearly stunned and amazed by him, and the wizard  
  
himself chose to continue ignoring them for the moment. "I am glad you appreciate my  
  
coming, truth be told, I chose your company over a fine horse." This puzzled Sam as  
  
much as the other two, but Gandalf did not see fit to say more on the matter. "Indeed,  
  
Samwise Gamgee," he began, "I was rather surprised to learn I would find you lost in the  
  
woods, and in most unexpected company." "I'm sorry Mr. Gandalf! I really tried to stay  
  
with Mr. Frodo. Honest, I ran as fast as I could, and Strider was so worked up about the  
  
wraiths..." Gandalf held up his staff to silence the blubbering Hobbit. "It is no matter  
  
Samwise. Your presence or lack thereof would have made no difference in this particular  
  
instance, and I have no doubt you were not lackadaisical in your efforts." He smiled  
  
again, and his eyes twinkled in just such a way under his heavy brows. "Begging your  
  
pardon Gandalf sir, but aren't you the least bit worried about Mr. Frodo?" Sam asked.  
  
"To put it bluntly, no." Sam's eyes widened at the wizards admission, "Be at ease Sam,  
  
for I have seen your master, and it takes not a learned mind to know he is well." "You  
  
mean he made it??" cried Sam, eyes growing, if possible, wider. Gandalf nodded, "This  
  
very morning I looked in on him. He rests and recovers under the eyes, and indeed the  
  
roof of Elrond. If we move quickly, we can reach Rivendell even before he awakens."  
  
"Well what are we waiting for?" Sam exclaimed, and he immediately set about packing  
  
all his pans and anything else he had gotten out. Gandalf turned to the other two. "As for  
  
the two of you, I expect there is you wish to know. It is likewise for me, but we must  
  
make haste, so for now, names alone must suffice. I am Gandalf." "I'm Harry, and this is  
  
Ron." Said the dark haired boy, gesturing at his companions. "Just a minute...Gandalf."  
  
The red haired one called Ron interjected, "If were in such a hurry, why'd you just send  
  
away that bird? He could have got us to this Rivendell place in no time." Gandalf replied  
  
easily, "That eagle is a great lord among eagles, not some idle ferryman who'll break  
  
from his napping to give rides for a coin or a pretty face. I was fortunate to enlist his aide  
  
as far as Rivendell, and it was by luck of akin roads that he carried me to this place. "  
  
Ron looked puzzled, but by that time Sam came bustling over, packed and ready to go.  
  
"Alright you two, get a move on." He said evenly to Ron and Harry. "Us? You think  
  
we're going first?" Ron's tone was defiant. "Well you certainly aren't goin' behind! I'll  
  
not have you schemin' back where Gandalf and I can't keep an eye on you." Sam  
  
returned. "Scheming? I'll show you scheming!" here Ron took an angry step towards the  
  
hobbit. "Stay back! Gandalf here's a wizard and he can turn you into just about anything  
  
he likes, and just about anything you don't!" Sam warned. "A wizard?" Harry asked,  
  
"He's not much of a wizard if all he can do are transfiguration! Hermione could turn me  
  
into just about anything she liked with her hands tied behind her back and her wand in  
  
her teeth!" "THAT IS ENOUGH!" bellowed Gandalf suddenly, and he seemed to grow  
  
taller before their eyes. All fell dead silent. The birds in the trees ceased to chirp, and  
  
even the wind halted its weaving through the foliage. "Does anyone else know the way to  
  
Rivendell?" he demanded, glowering somehow at all three of them at once. They all  
  
shook their heads. "Then no one minds if I lead the way?" he continued. No replies, least  
  
of all objections came. "Good." Gandalf surmised, and placing his staff firmly on the  
  
ground, he pivoted and started off at a great pace. Sam let out a sigh of relief and hurried  
  
after the quickly retreating form. He'd never been so glad to hear the birds resume  
  
singing.  
  
AN- For the person who wanted to know the meaning of our chapter titles, they are all in elvish Tere Palurin mean likes 'New Earth' or something on those line, Osp ni itaur means smoke, and Ando Mesta means 'Long Journey.' Now you can probably tell why we put them into elvish, being very un creative chapter titlers! 


	5. Anda Heile Entulesse

Heh....Minerva here. I don't actually have Artemis' approval to post this chapter, but I'm doing in anyway. Here is how I THINK our conversation would go.  
  
Artemis: YOU DID WHAT?!!  
  
Minerva: postedthechapterbecauseyoudidn'tgetbacktome  
  
Artemis: What was that?  
  
Minerva: Erm...decided that I didn't want to wait for you to get back to me to post this chapter  
  
Artemis: I KEEL you!  
  
Chapter 5: Anda Heile Entulesse  
  
Harry stumbled over a root, for about the millionth time. How far away was this  
  
Rivendell anyway? At least he was in better shape than Ron, who was stumbling with  
  
what seemed like every other step. Ron was also having issues keeping up with the pace,  
  
as he had not had the same amount of Quidditch training as Harry.  
  
"Come on Ron! This is reflecting my Quidditch training skills! If you're having  
  
troubles with this I may need to increase the program..."  
  
"No, no you don't!" Ron heaved, his eyes opening wide. For 6th year Harry had  
  
been made Quidditch captain (the Quidditch ban had been lifted), and his training  
  
program had been rather intense and was often compared to Wood's. Actually speaking  
  
of Quidditch...  
  
"Ron why aren't we riding our brooms? Both of them know that we have them,  
  
and Samwise claims that that old man is a wizard, so he would know all about Quidditch  
  
and brooms!"  
  
Ron's face brightened. "Hey I bet I can beat you to that clearing down there."  
  
Harry looked at him begrudgingly. "On a Cleansweep? Compared to my Firebolt you  
  
won't stand a chance!"  
  
"But Harry," Ron started with a glint in his eyes, "I do believe that it is the one that starts wins the race."  
  
"What..."  
  
Ron took off flying. As soon as he realized what had just happened, Harry took off after his friend.  
  
"Weasley! You Slytherin! Get back here!" Harry yelled, speeding up as fast as he could  
  
to catch up with Ron. As he sped past some apple trees the boy-who-lived picked off  
  
apples and began throwing them at Ron. Who, after getting hit a couple times in the back  
  
of the head, eventually turned around and flew backwards, catching the apples that Harry  
  
threw at him. Soon the race was forgotten and it was an all out war between the best  
  
friends.  
  
"ENOUGH!" Gandalf yelled from the ground. Harry and Ron looked at him, and then  
  
looked at how high up they were. Ron gulped a little and slowly began his decent  
  
towards the ground. Harry, however, had a different idea. Who did this Gandalf think he  
  
was? He had no right to boss them around like that! Grinning widely Harry dived  
  
straight down, right in the direction of the old wizard. 'That'll show him,' he thought as  
  
the wind raced through his hair. Harry wasn't sure that his broom could go any faster  
  
than what it was right now. He aimed to go just to the right of Gandalf, making it appear  
  
as though he was going to run into the wizard. At the last second he pulled up. Ron and  
  
Samwise were looking at Harry with amazement.  
  
"That was bloody amazing Harry!" Ron encouraged. Harry who was going to look at  
  
the expression on Gandalf's face, instead turned to his best mate, and sent him a gigantic  
  
wining smile. That is until Harry felt something pull his beloved Firebolt out from  
  
underneath him, and he landed on the ground with a loud thud. The old man, Gandalf,  
  
had grabbed the broom, causing Harry to fall.  
  
Harry glared. Both Samwise and Ron had the same reaction again. Only this time they  
  
were both laughing their heads off at the Boy-Who-Lived.  
  
Ron was trying to hide his amusement at the misfortunes of his best friend but couldn't  
  
help but laugh. The look on Harry's face was priceless. After giving his best friend and  
  
Samwise the look of death Harry turned to Gandalf, who had quite a different look on his  
  
face. The man looked extremely annoyed and angry at Harry. However, not even the  
  
gaze of the Dark Lord gave Harry much fright anymore and he just glared back.  
  
Regaining his hurt pride the raven-haired teenager slowly got back on his feet. Once he  
  
was up again, he reached to grab his broom from Gandalf. Gandalf seemed ready for this  
  
though and held the broom high above Harry's head. This only proved to make Harry  
  
angrier. "Give. That. Back. Now." He said through gritted teeth.  
  
'Uh oh,' Ron thought. He had only seen his best friend this angry a couple of times. One  
  
of those times being when Harry had almost killed his godfather for the thought to be  
  
betrayal of his parents.  
  
Gandalf didn't even bat an eye.  
  
"Master Harry, you may have this...flying device back when you prove that you won't make a fool of yourself or your friend on it."  
  
"I mean it. Give it to me!"  
  
"Ummm...Mr. Gandalf sir...you might want to give that back now you see Harry's godfather gave that to him right after..."  
  
"I don't care is the Gods themselves gave this broom to him," Gandalf interrupted.  
  
"Gifts such as this should only be bestowed on those who will use them responsively."  
  
Ron shut up when he saw the fire in Gandalf's eyes. However, the fire in Harry's eyes  
  
was no less then in those of the old wizards. Leaves on the ground began to levitate  
  
around Harry. Not even aware of them himself, Harry jumped to try and reach his  
  
broomstick. Alas, he missed again. The two wizard's eye's locked onto one another's.  
  
Harry felt the old man bearing into his eyes, about to access his memories in some  
  
strange form of Legimancy. 'Oh no you don't,' Harry thought. With all his might he  
  
shoved Gandalf out of his mind. The old man looked startled.  
  
"Your eyes are honest," he said simply. Suddenly, as if it hadn't been there before at all  
  
a great river appeared in front of them.  
  
"It looks as though we have arrived!" Gandalf announced, ignoring the angry glare of Harry.  
  
"Welcome to Rivendell!"  
  
It was the most beautiful place that Harry and Ron had ever seen. Hogwarts, which was  
  
quite beautiful, held no candle to this place. Everything here looked so natural and  
  
beauty radiated off the very buildings! In fact, Harry and Ron were so engrossed in their  
  
surroundings that they didn't even notice a bushy haired some one run up to them, with a  
  
blonde right behind her.  
  
"HARRY, RON! You're HERE!" The two boys suddenly found themselves being  
  
strangled to death by the two girls.  
  
"What happened to you? Where did you go? How did you find your way here? Where's  
  
your broomstick Harry? I can't believe you made it! I thought I had lost you two!"  
  
The questions and comments came so fast, that the two boys didn't have any time to truly  
  
comprehend what their friend was saying.  
  
"Slow down Hermione," Ron said, though he was very happy to see her as well.  
  
Luna seemed un fazed by the arrival of Harry and Ron.  
  
"Daddy always said that their were small creatures called Hobbits around. Now if only I  
  
could take one home to him..."  
  
The other's gaped at the Ravenclaw. They shook their heads, realizing that Luna's dad  
  
probably did believe in Hobbits, sight unseen. The quartet chatted cheerfully for a couple  
  
of minutes before the happy guise that Hermione was wearing wore off. They found  
  
themselves quite alone.  
  
Looking around, as if to make sure that there was no one else around Hermione  
  
whispered, "They is a secret council meeting being held in one of the gardens. They  
  
were talking about something very powerful, a ring I think, something they want to keep  
  
out of the hand of a certain Dark Lord."  
  
This caught Harry's attention. Voldemort was here too?  
  
"I bet if we used my cloak we could get in. Hermione do you have your wand back?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"Then let's go see what this ring business is that Samwise and the others were talking about..."  
  
AN- REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! 


	6. Beacoup des RendezVous

Artemis: Hello Minerva I'm back from my trip.  
  
Minerva: YAY! But nothing happened while you were gone, I didn't do anything, nothing at all, its been very boring around here  
  
Artemis: Really? Well its good to be home. By the way would you care for anything? Coffee? Tea? Unauthorized postings?  
  
Minerva: Well I don't really care for tea or coffee, I'll take some coke if you have any, and I don't know about any unauthorized posting, what are you talking about?  
  
Artemis: ::hands her a coke:: Oh nothing, one of those crazy new sports beverages...you know what I'm in the mood for?  
  
Minerva: ::hopefully:: Mothers?  
  
Artemis: Actually I was going to say vengeance. But what's that you said about mothers...you haven't got any do you?  
  
Minerva: Erm...no. .I'm just going to walk this way... :: runs away with magical baguette in hand::  
  
Artemis: AHA! ::runs after::  
  
Chapter 6: Beacoup des Rendez-Vous  
  
"Now remember, we have to be very quiet. Who knows what they'll do if they find out  
  
we're spying on their secret meeting." Hermione whispered for the third time.  
  
"You know Hermione, you haven't even left the room yet. Are you sure its really necessary to whisper at this point?" Ron dryly replied, a little louder than necessary.  
  
"Oh Ron, don't be so put out." Harry pleaded, "You know we can't fit four under the invisibility cloak. Even three is difficult enough, and we can't just leave one of us alone in the room anyway."  
  
"But why are you leaving me behind?" Ron moaned, "Personally I think Hermione should stay. I mean what if Luna has to change or something. Am I just supposed to stand in the hallway?"  
  
"Honestly Ronald, its pretty obvious if you think about it," Hermione retorted impatiently, "You'd probably trip and ruin our element of surprise before the meeting even began."  
  
"Well I can't see you keeping your big mouth shut through an entire council when there's technicalities to be brought up and useless facts to be recited." Ron blasted back.  
  
Harry took a cue from Luna, who was completely ignoring the bitter feud which had begun across the room, and he walked over to where she was sitting. She seemed to be reading out of an amber tome with a fraying cover and yellowed pages.  
  
"What's that you're reading?" he asked, trying to get a better look over her shoulder.  
  
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." She replied, "Its an older publication. There's a newer version but it omits a lot of the most fantastic beasts that you'll find in this one. Like the balrog for instance."  
  
"The balrog?" asked Harry, not sure if you wanted an answer. He'd made a million mental notes not to encourage Luna, but he was too serious to let it drop.  
  
"Yes, the anti-wizard. The balrog is a creature of fire and shadow smoldering with  
  
terrible strength and even more terrible hatred. They live in the deeps of the world, and  
  
no longer venture out onto the mortal plane. Lucky for us." She was finished and  
  
immediately went back to her book.  
  
Harry shook his head and made a mental note, 'Seriously, don't encourage Luna!' Then  
  
he went over to lie down on the bed and sluice through the events of the day. Despite his  
  
initial mental doggedness, Harry felt his eyelids grow heavy. His legs were crying out in  
  
support of a rest, and here in Rivendell Harry could feel all dark thoughts flying from his  
  
mind.  
  
The sharp words of Hermione and Ron blurred into a dull hum, and the crisp sound of  
  
Luna's page turning amplified, lulling Harry into a deep sleep. He dreamed, and for the  
  
first time in a long time no evil darkened his visions. So peaceful did he seem, that Ron  
  
and Hermione were loath to disturb him.  
  
It was because of this that Harry and Hermione found themselves sprinting to the place where the meeting was to be held, hoping they hadn't missed anything but the exchange of pleasantries.  
  
Fortunately they were not as late as they'd feared, and as an added stroke of luck they  
  
snuck in seamlessly. All of the expected attendees were already seated and focusing on  
  
the tall dark elf that was addressing the council. The mood was tense, and no one took  
  
any notice of a stray wind or a faint rustle.  
  
Another good turn for the eavesdroppers: they weren't the only ones who needed to be  
  
filled in. Many of the participants seemed just as confused as they were, and more often  
  
then not when a question popped into Harry's mind some member of the council shared  
  
his confusion and asked the speaker to clarify.  
  
The elf was not the only one to talk. Indeed Gandalf, and Strider both made input, and  
  
many other folk whom Harry did not recognize contributed briefly. All in all it was a  
  
strange and winding tale which could only be half understood in such limited time.  
  
As with everyone else present the witch and wizard were absorbed, and their duty of  
  
transparency was easy- their tongues did not once itch with the desire to converse.  
  
The lore was all infinitely fascinating to Hermione, and she began to feel a deep  
  
admiration for the dark elven Loremaster who told it in such a rumbling baritone. He was  
  
leading them all through the annuls of his memory and Hermione grew fond of the way  
  
his eyes flashed grimly at the darker parts of his tale. Fortunately, for this reason at least,  
  
the dark parts were clearly in the majority.  
  
Harry too was deeply in thought. Could this dark lord really be Voldemort? If so, was  
  
that the reason Harry was here? But what about his friends? Surely they had not been  
  
send to fight Voldemort. And how had the dark lord gotten here? Did he know a way to  
  
return? Would they ever get home, and was this their chance to leave Voldemort behind  
  
forever?  
  
'No.' Harry resolved silently, 'I won't leave here unless Voldemort is dead or coming with me. Or both.'  
  
A tall stern man was speaking now. He reminded Harry of Strider. This was a lord of  
  
men. A man men are proud to count among their numbers, and he was not without pride  
  
either. He called himself Boromir.  
  
Indeed Boromir spoke of the men of Gondor (who knew where that was) with such  
  
glowing words that Harry expected him to just cut to the chase and propose canonizing  
  
the lot of them.  
  
In response to something Boromir said, Strider rose swiftly to his feet, and in that  
  
moment Harry saw the other shrink before his eyes. Strider's commanding presence  
  
disseminated through the room and when he placed his sword on the table, broken though  
  
it was, all were in awe of his might.  
  
Aragorn he called himself, and Harry could think of no better occasion for a change of  
  
name. The lean ranger was gone, banished by the mighty king who now stood before  
  
them, commanding all the eyes and attentions of all those about him. Boromir slinked  
  
back to his seat.  
  
The littlest of them was the one who dared speak first, and as he spoke to Frodo, Aragorn regained his former mortality. It was then that Gandalf rose:  
  
"Bring out the ring, Frodo!" He said solemnly. "The time has come. Hold it up, and Boromir will understand."  
  
Harry took a step forward in spite of himself. All eyes were on the Hobbit, who hesitated  
  
for a moment before producing a small band of gold. He walked before Elrond, and  
  
placed it upon the table, beside the shards of Narsil.  
  
A great desire rose up within Harry. He needed to see it, he needed to have a closer look.  
  
He began walking forward and Hermione went with him, without reservation and  
  
seemingly equally enchanted.  
  
No one had noticed them. Slowly they came towards the ring of chairs and with nimble alertness, began to pass between Boromir and another man. With sudden vigor Boromir rose and swung out his hand.  
  
Harry and Hermione quickly evaded to the edges of the cloak and Boromir's hand touched only the area between them. He was making some speech now and Hermione hurried into the center of the ring when he sat to avoid being caught by another of his impassioned uprisings.  
  
"Do you hear that?" whispered Legolas to Galdor, the elf sitting beside him. "It is as though the ring draws breath of its own."  
  
The Elder nodded, "The power of the ring is unfathomable. I would not consider it beyond its might to breath as any child can. Or at least to create the illusion that it does so."  
  
Finally, secure in the idea that everyone was focused on the hobbit who had now stood to recite a poem, Harry dared turn his gaze back upon the ring. For so small a thing, its presence was huge.  
  
A desire was upon him to touch it, to hold it and even to put it on. He reached for it, and  
  
as his fingers grew close an absurd feeling of reckless joy filled him, growing steadily  
  
stronger as his fingertips groped.  
  
He would have had it too, had not Hermione suddenly screamed and grabbed him,  
  
forcing them both to the floor just as an axe came crashing down upon the ring, through  
  
the space he had just been transparently occupying.  
  
In that moment, many things happened. The great steel blade of the axe splintered,  
  
propelling shards of shrapnel at the unprepared observers, and its dwarfish wielder to the  
  
ground.  
  
Harry his the floor, Hermione tumbling after and the invisibility cloak slipped partially off and began to pool on the floor beside them. This exposed seemingly independent limbs and pieces of Harry and Hermione to the onlookers.  
  
And the ring sat unmoved on its pedestal, unscathed and unimpressed by the chaos about it.  
  
Council members rose to dodge pieces of the axe and soon everyone was standing,  
  
dangerously anxious and staring right at Harry and Hermione. Before Harry could reach  
  
to pull the cloak over their heads, the dwarf, grasping at the ground to push himself up,  
  
grabbed at plain air and was suddenly holding a silver cloak and looking down at two  
  
young (and fully present, anatomically) humans.  
  
Gimli drew back in shock. Never before had he seen such a thing.  
  
'A shard of my axe must have struck me in the wrong place.' He thought, 'Little humans appearing before my very eyes!'  
  
Gandalf smiled. He was growing quite fond of this young wizard with so much daring  
  
and raw power. He sensed there was far more to the boy than could be assessed on first  
  
glance. He also had an inkling that if Harry chose, he could keep his full might hidden  
  
from whomever he wished.  
  
'He certainly guards his own thoughts well.' Gandalf mused, remembering the rough rebuke of the boy as he'd tried to gain access to his mind, 'Impressed already, and you've only seen the tip of the iceberg.'  
  
Boromir on the other hand was not impressed. Magic and sorcery, it all seemed like a  
  
cowardly pursuit. Such things were for creatures insufficiently adequate by their own  
  
merit, such as Sauron, and even Gandalf. Truly noble beings fought with their own  
  
strength. That was all his people needed.  
  
Aragorn was shocked for an instant, though Strider wouldn't allow him to stay this way  
  
long. Muscles tensing, he prepared himself for anything. The ranger considered himself a  
  
good judge of character, but he couldn't read this boy, and had not so much as an idea  
  
what to expect. He had their weapons, but Aragorn saw Harry back up and allow his hand  
  
to rest close to the shards. There was a short sword at his waist, but there was doubt in his  
  
mind, and he prayed they meant no harm.  
  
Legolas' eyes met Elrond's, and there was a moment of silent communication between  
  
the elves. Legolas' eyes dropped purposefully to his boot, where was concealed a dagger,  
  
then he looked back up to the gray orbs of the Lord of Rivendell.  
  
Legolas knew not of these intruders, but he had the feeling Elrond would know what to do, and he was right. The lord shook his head, a negative, and Legolas took no action.  
  
Now he turned to Aragorn, and each knew the other was ready to spring to the aid of the  
  
council at any point. Legolas sensed those before him were more than the simple humans  
  
they seemed, but he banished this notion and felt no fear. If the strangers threatened the  
  
life of any council member, they would have him to deal with.  
  
Except the dwarves perhaps, they could save their own skins.  
  
The ring itself was Frodo's first thought, and he found himself frantic until he could see  
  
that it still sat in its place, as though nothing had occurred. Relieved, Frodo turned to  
  
Bilbo beside him. The ring had made his uncle disappear before, and he himself also, at  
  
The Pony, and at Weathertop. It could not however, to his knowledge, only partially  
  
conceal its wearer. Bilbo seemed equally confused.  
  
Suddenly a feeling came over Frodo that could only be described as bitter jealously.  
  
Could these two have another ring, and had they mastered it to the point where they could  
  
command it to hide only parts of them? If so, it seemed likely they could easily make  
  
claim to his ring too. Then he saw that he knew the two intruders.  
  
"Harry and Hermione?" Frodo recognized two of the humans who had joined them at Weathertop.  
  
Crotchety as ever, Gandalf's face had curved into an expression of half amusement. He immediately sobered however, when other members of the council began looking to him for guidance.  
  
"Be seated, friends." He bade them, and soon everyone in the room had sat back in their seats, save Harry and Hermione, who stood awkwardly by the pedestal.  
  
"Now, this is Elrond's council." Gandalf reasoned. "Let him decide what is to be done."  
  
Hermione turned and was relieved to see the dark elf, presumably Elrond, rise. There were no hands she felt herself better judged in than those of the dark, wise elf with the benevolent gray eyes.  
  
"Well, what do you have to say for yourselves?" Elrond asked.  
  
Hermione, acting on all she had heard in the council spoke:  
  
"We came from far away, and even now we have no idea why we're here. Still, I can't  
  
believe that our coming was a coincidence or a mistake. Harry especially has had the  
  
same goal as all of you for as long as I've known him. To destroy the dark lord, and to  
  
eliminate the grip of evil on the world. True, we weren't invited to this council, or even to  
  
Rivendell, but from what I've heard you all say, it sounds like you all came by 'chance'  
  
as well. We've been listening this whole time. The danger is as real to us as it is to you.  
  
We wish to be recognized among the resistance."  
  
Harry looked at Hermione, impressed and then turned to Elrond. The elf was smiling, and his words were kind,  
  
"Indeed, it is good to have purpose. I believe nothing is without it in this world, and this holds true to your presence here at this council. Let them be seated." From where none had been before, suddenly two elves approached, carrying two chairs.  
  
By chance, or perhaps not, there were two spaces in the ring of chairs. Harry was seated  
  
beside Aragorn and a blonde Elf who introduced himself as Glorfindel, head of Elrond's  
  
household. Beside Glorfindel sat Elrond, and on the lord's other side, his raven-haired  
  
advisor, known as Erestor. Hermione sat beside the adviser and Frodo was to her left.  
  
Little pausing for breath after this strange series of events, Elrond began again the  
  
discussion. It was decided that there were only a few courses that could be taken. Clearly  
  
the ring could not be destroyed by ordinary means, and Elrond could not protect it in  
  
Rivendell.  
  
Boromir proposed to use it, but was rebuked by others who explained that the ring could not be used for good, no matter the intentions of its wearer.  
  
So the choices were as follows: to unmake it in the heart of Mount Doom, in the heart of Mordor itself, or the less permanent approach, to cast it away to some hidden place and hope it never be found again.  
  
"But the ring will be found." Aragorn said, "Sauron will stop at nothing to have it, and it is always calling to him and his servants. It would be pure cowardice to deny its existence so."  
  
"Then that leaves us with but one option." Gandalf mused aloud,  
  
"The ring must be taken to Mordor." Surmised another blond elf, who stood as though prepared to take the ring, walk out of the council and head to Mordor himself.  
  
"And I suppose you think you're the one to take it?" Gimli laughed incredulously and stood in challenge.  
  
"Better I than a dwarf who would no doubt sooner toss the ring to his hoard and hide in deep caverns with a mug of ale than face the dangers of Mordor." Retorted the elf, eyes gleaming and now standing himself.  
  
The dwarves all rose and began shouting, and the elves too, and soon the men joined in and everyone was arguing with everyone else and there was naught Elrond nor Gandalf could do to stop it.  
  
Hermione turned to Frodo, who was still seated beside her. Their eyes met and she sensed he was about to do something very important. He rose, and small as his words were, they silenced the assembly.  
  
"I will take the ring to Mordor." He said. "Though I do not know the way."  
  
No one argued, indeed everyone was dumbfounded by the little hobbit's words.  
  
"And we will go too." Harry cried, and though Hermione was surprised she was not of a different mind.  
  
Aragorn also volunteered, and Boromir. Then the blond elf joined them, and since he was going the dwarf felt obligated also. Finally Gandalf stood, saying that he intended to go too.  
  
"One more and we are equal to the numbers of the black riders." Elrond mused, and turning to Hermione he asked, "As I remember you have two other companions. Would they also like to go, do you think?"  
  
Hermione nodded,  
  
"We stick together." She said.  
  
"WAIT!" came a voice from off beyond the chairs. Suddenly Sam, Pippin, and Merry came running into the circle.  
  
"We stick together too." Merry cried, adamantly placing himself beside Frodo.  
  
"That's right, and there's no way you're all gonna be sending Mister Frodo out on this thing without his Sam, I'll tell you that." Sam added.  
  
"Well, it is always better that we outnumber the wraiths by a few hobbits, don't you think Elond?" Gandalf said.  
  
And so it was that the fellowship was formed, and Harry and Hermione went away with more than enough to tell their friends. As they were going to leave, a voice called them back.  
  
It was Gimli, and the dwarf not only apologized to Harry for nearly hacking at him with his axe, but presented him with his invisibility cloak.  
  
"Take these as well." added Gandalf, coming up behind Gimli and handing Harry their four wands (Which he had gotten from Aragorn) and Harry's broom.  
  
Back in the room, Luna and Ron were flooded with stories from Hermione and Harry.  
  
"If only he were a history teacher at Hogwarts. I'm sure he and Dumbledore would get on perfectly. I for one could listen to him lecture all day!" Hermione was making her report on Elrond.  
  
"What she don't tell you is that she could listen to Professor Binns all day as well." Ron muttered.  
  
Hermione immediately wanted to know exactly what that was supposed to mean, and  
  
Ron was all too eager to tell her just what it meant. Harry sighed. With these two that  
  
couldn't keep peace on a train ride to Hogwarts, he was anticipating a long trip to  
  
Mordor.  
  
REVIEW REVIEW REIVEW!!!!!!!! 


	7. Somnio Abnocto

Minerva: So…its been awhile…

Artemis: Yeah, is there anyone still here? Its been like a year…

Minerva: So many excuses so little space…

Artemis: I'll just be leaving then…

Minerva: And where do you think that you are going :freezes with Magical Baguette:

Artemis: Er…I think I'm going to Japan but…

Minerva: BITCH! I will CURSE you avec mon bagette!

Artemis::Runs away to Japan:

Chapter 7: Somnio Abnocto

Setting off from Rivendell surprised Harry. There was very little fanfare, and only

Elrond came to bid the Fellowship goodbye. Although, when he thought of it, the lack of

fanfare shouldn't be surprising, after all he was nobody in the land. Actually it was rather

refreshing. However, the constant bickering between Ron and Hermione was anything

but. Harry was sure by the time that they got to Mordor that he would be ready to throw

Ron and Hermione into the volcano with the ring! He was also sure that the other

members of the fellowship would help him when the time came. To be quite honest

Harry himself was feeling a bit unattached. With Ron and Hermione constantly bickering

and Luna's insistent staring into space, the raven-haired boy had no one to really talk to.

He didn't trust the others in the Fellowship, besides his own friends. Especially the

way that the old wizard, Gandalf had attempted to pry into Harry's mind. What else

could these beings do? Back home, Harry had never heard of elves that were not house-

elves and he did not know if the elves here possessed special magical powers. The

hobbits looked like little men, although they seemed to be completely muggle. And the

dwarf, Harry had no clue what to think of him. Harry could sense the distrust of Boromir

and the befuddlement of Strider, although both emotions from these two men were well

hidden. The hobbits kept to themselves so much that Harry had had little contact with

them so far, except for when Sam would steal angry, protective looks towards Ron and

Harry whenever Frodo got close to either one of them.

One night, while sitting around a campfire (which Hermione had charmed to not appear

to anyone except the group) Harry was surprised and a little alarmed that Gandalf was

trying to engage him in a conversation.

"Where you come from you use wands for your magic?"

"Yes," was the short reply. There was an awkward silence.

"And what is your wizard's title?"

Harry looked up for the first time and asked, "What?"

"Your title! For I am Gandalf the Grey and I suppose that you would be something such as Harry the Green, or your friend Ron the Red."

From where he was sitting, for once not arguing with Hermione, Ron burst out laughing. Gandalf raised an eyebrow.

"And what is it that you find so funny young man?"

"Well its just this one time my sister sent Harry a singing valentine about…"

Harry shot Ron a death glare. Ron stopped talking.

"What prêt ell is a Valentine and why would such a creature sing?"

This made both Ron and Harry burst into giggles. Now it was Hermione's turn to glare.

"Really _boys_, it is not kind to make fun of other people. A valentine is a profession of

love or friendship from one person to another on a certain day each year. Where we

come from love is celebrated once a year, and Ron's younger sister once sent such a

profession to Harry. And Ronald still seems to think that its funny despite a certain song

that was written about HIM last year!"

Ron blushed deep red. Under her breath, Luna started humming, 'Weasely is our King.'

Gandalf just shook his head at the antics of these human children.

Hermione continued to explain. "Where we come from witches and wizards don't have

titles such as 'Gandalf the Grey.' I guess the closest we come to titles such as that is

what house we are sorted in at school. Harry, Ron, and I are in Gryffindor, a house

prized for the courage its inhabitants have, and Luna is in Ravenclaw, a house that prizes

intelligence and learning."

"Would you then be called Hermione the Gryffindor or Luna the Ravenclaw?"

Even Hermione couldn't help giggle at this one.

"No, we're just called by our given names. Well all of us except Harry…he is called The-Boy-Who-Lived."

Gandalf look curious and Harry shot Hermione a furious glance.

"And how did you get such a title?" The old wizard inquired.

"It doesn't matter. If you don't mind I think I'm going to go to bed now. Goodnight."

Harry stomped off to his sleeping place on the ground. Hermione winced.

"I probably shouldn't have said anything. Harry has been very…sensitive as of late."

"When the star fades so does the sun," Luna said in her normal absent-minded voice.

Hermione rolled her eyes, but Gandalf nodded as if this statement made sense.

"Is this what is troubling young Harry?"

"There are lots of things troubling Harry, none of which are your business." Ron shot at

Gandalf. "You need to be more careful of what you say Hermione." With that Ron went

to go check on his best friend. It seemed that this little tiff had caught the attention of the

other members of the Fellowship.

"It has been a long time since I have seen eyes so old in one so young." Aragorn commented to his elven friend.

"He reminds me of a certain young hobbit, he bears too much burden for one man."

Aragorn nodded in agreement. "I feel that there is more to this young man than what appears. We shall have to watch him closely."

Aragorn turned to the others. "I feel that is time that we all get some rest, Legolas and I

will keep watch for now."

There was a silent agreement from everyone.

_He had reached the floor, his breath coming in searing gasps. Sirius must be just behind _

_the curtain, he, Harry, would pull him back out again…_

_But as he reached the ground and sprinted toward the dais, Lupin gabbed Harry around _

_the chest, hold him back._

"_There's nothing you can do, Harry--"_

"_Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!"_

"_Its too late, Harry--"_

"_We can still reach him--"_

_Harry struggled hard and viciously, but Lupin would not let go…_

"_There's nothing you can do, Harry…nothing…He's gone."_

"_Sirius, Sirius,"_

"SIRIUS SIRIUS SIRIUS!" Harry yelled in his sleep.

"Harry, mate, you got to wake up! Harry its only a dream." Ron was beside Harry trying to get him to wake up.

Harry opened his eyes, a cold sweat on his forehead. "Ron! We have to save him, we can still reach him!"

Ron shook his head sadly.

"Harry, Sirius is gone, and we aren't even at Hogwarts anymore, come on mate."

Then Harry remembered the last year.

"I should have been able to save him Ron…I…" But what Harry was wasn't stated, a curley haired short man appeared in front of Harry and Ron.

"And what are you two up to? Screamin' like that, why you could have woken Mr. Frodo!"

Ron glared. "This is not the time Samwise. Go away."

Sam narrowed his eyes. "I don' know what you are up to, but I will find out."

"Samwise Gamgee, you stop that this instant. Young Harry has never threatened you nor

your Mr. Frodo. Go back to sleep, for there are only a couple hours left in the night."

"But…"

"Go." Samwise shot Harry and Ron one last dirty look before heading back to his section of camp.

"Are you alright Harry?"

Harry stared up at the older man, embarrassed. "I'm fine," he muttered.

"Here eat this," Aragorn said handing the raven-haired boy some sort of plant.

"What is it?"

"_Somnio Abnocto _it should keep away any nightmares you might have for the rest of the night. Eat it and sleep young Harry, you will need your rest, there is another long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Aragorn disappeared in the shadows of the night.

'Strange man,' was all that Harry was able to think before drifting off back to sleep.

Harry awoke the next morning to the sound of swords clashing. He grabbed his wand

and went to investigate what was happening, his heart pounding. He stood ready to

attack around the corner when he saw…Boromir and Aragorn clashing swords with

Pippin.

"Get away from the blade Pippin…on your toes…good, very good…I want you to react, not think." Boromir instructed the hobbit. Harry lets out a sigh of relief, there was not danger after all.

With some amusement Harry watched as Boromir got Pippin in the hand, and Pippin threw

down his sword. He kicked and lunged at the man, tackling him to the ground. Harry

joined in the laughter. The only member of the fellowship not laughing was Legolas,

who was looking off at a dark patch in the distance.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"Crebain from Dunland! Hide!" Legolas said in an urgent voice. Not really

understanding, Harry hide under the rocks with the rest of the group. Hermione looked

especially frightened. "What's happening Harry?"

"I don't…"

"Shh! Aragorn said harshly. Above them Harry could see large crows circling over them.

"Bloody hell," Ron muttered.

The crows swoop in another direction, away from the Fellowship.

"Spies of Saruman. The passage to the South is being watched. We must take the pass of Caradhras!"

"The pass of whaty what?" Ron questioned. He was ignored. Harry wasn't sure what

was going on, but he felt as if something had come over him, a strange darkness that he

only felt a couple of times in his life…namely right before he was about to face the Dark

Lord. 'This isn't going to be as easy as I thought.'

"Hermione what's that heating charm again?" Ron asked in a whiny voice.

"Ronald Weasley, I know that it is cold and that you are tired, but this is ridiculous, I have already taught you that spell four times!"

"But it keeps wearing off…"

"Too bad, you need to learn to pay closer attention when other's are teaching you things."

Not even the bitter cold seemed to qualm Ron and Hermione's bickering. Harry rolled

his eyes and muttered a charm at Ron. Ron smiled.

"Thanks mate, I needed that."

Right now the Fellowship was treading up a huge mountain, covered in snow. Harry had

never been so cold in his life. All he could think about was the nice warm Gryffindor fire

that he would be most likely be sitting by right now if he was back at Hogwarts.

Suddenly Legolas stopped. "There is a fell voice in the air."

"Saruman." Stated Gandalf.

Harry heard rumbling from above. There were rocks tumbling down the mountain.

"He is trying to bring down the mountain! We must turn back, "Aragorn yells over the

sound of the rumbling rocks.

"No!" Gandalf yelled back. Harry didn't understand why this old man was refusing to

leave. Did he have a death wish? 'This is not the way I am supposed to die,' Harry

thought.

An avalanche of snow came tumbling down on the small group of people, and it blocked

the path that the travelers had been following.

"We must go down the mountain." Boromir exclaimed.

"We can go through the mines of Moria." Gimli interjected. Harry noticed the worried

face of Gandalf. There was something bad in the Mines, and Harry couldn't help but feel

that they were only making their situation worse.

"Let the ring bearer decide."

The look of the world resting on his shoulders in Frodo's eyes so reminded Hermione of

Harry that she gasped. Those two were more similar than they realized.

"We will go through the mines," Frodo announced.

"So be it."

AN- Maybe if you review Artemis will manage to get another chapter up before she abandons us all::Artemis cocks her eyebrows: So READ and REVIEW!


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